Little Dragons
by Random Slytherin 1
Summary: Draco gets a special gift on his birthday from the person he least suspects. (sappy slash) *HP/DM*
1. Forgotten

I wrote this for my friend Michelle, for her birthday back in February. It's sweet and squishy and pre-slashy. Kissies come in the next chapter. ^.~

I own no one. Damn.

Little Dragons

It wasn't the fact that it was his birthday that bothered him, or even the age. In fact, sixteen seemed a good age to be. Sixteen years old, in his sixth year at Hogwarts; it all matched up perfectly. The day even fell perfectly on the day of a Hogsmeade weekend.

However, rather than the usual 'surprise' visit from his mum and father in the small Wizard town, he'd received an owl the previous day at breakfast:

My sweet little dragon,

Sorry, darling, but your father and I won't be able to meet you this year. A very important business meeting came up; you know how it is. Next time, of course, Darling. Enclosed you should find 100 Galleons. Spend them as you wish.

Happy birthday.

-Narcissa Malfoy

Indeed, along with the letter, his mother had sent a small black velvet coin purse with exactly 100 Galleons. How easily his family threw away so much money. 

A 'business meeting.' He'd attended several of them during the previous summer at home. They had nothing to do with his father's business at the Ministry, but were, rather, a sort of code name for Death Eater meetings. Beginning just after his fifth year had begun, many had been called, all in preparation of the impending war that loomed over the heads of the entire Wizarding world.

Trust Voldemort to call one on his birthday. 'Remember, son, your alliance lies with the Dark Lord first, yourself second.' Draco had heard the same speech many times that summer, between actual meetings and merciless training in the Dark Arts. Lucius believed that the best way to cast and fight magic was to be subjected first hand. 

'Alliance to the Dark Lord first…' His parents chose some horrible old shadow of a Wizard over their own son.

~*~

It snowed on his birthday, a cold, dark day in January, which normally he would have loved. _How ironic, _he thought, _for something so pure and clean as snow to fall on the day of the birth of someone such as myself. _

His parents had left him, and despite the almost daily reminders in the weeks since Christmas, his fellow Slytherins had thrown over something so insignificant as 'Draco Malfoy's Birthday' in all their excitement of a Hogsmeade weekend. Even his eternal over-grown shadows, Crabbe and Goyle, had forgotten him in favour of discussing which candies to buy.

Draco made a face at the unseeing wall of his carriage. As per usual, several horseless carriages were escorting the older Hogwarts students down into the small village. Also, as per usual, Crabbe and Goyle had clambered into the cart right after him, followed by a shy third year whom Draco knew not the name of, nor did he care to. "At least he's Slytherin," he mumbled to himself. Anything else would be unheard of and completely not to be tolerated.

The ride into Hogsmeade was uneventful to the point of being boring. _Another Saturday; it's just Saturday to them all. The entire school knows, yet no one cares. _Draco scoffed, drawing the attention of his carriage-mates to himself, if even for a few uninterested moments. _Did I really expect them to care though? I'm not exactly the most popular person in school; anyone not in Slytherin hates me. They hate all of us._

He banged his head on the wall of the carriage, willing the world away. _Maybe they're right for once. Maybe I'll just get myself so drunk that I won't remember today…_A small voice inside Draco's head reminded him that he didn't much care for alcohol-especially after that last time-but he easily ignored it. If no one else remembered his birthday, why should he?

~*~

Everyone knew of Malfoy's upcoming birthday, from the smallest first year Hufflepuff, to the brightest seventh year Ravenclaw. Unfortunately for him, his musings had been somewhat correct; not many of the schools students, or even the teachers for that matter, were very fond of the blonde Slytherin. After all, why should they be? He was cruel, snide, stuck up…the perfect Slytherin. Certainly he was no Harry Potter. Rather, he was the rival of said boy, and everyone knew that, as a rule, if Harry Potter does not like someone, everyone else must follow suit.

The same went for the opposite; if Harry liked someone, surely they must be a wonderful person, worthy of awe and respect, and-of course-a most formidable Witch or Wizard.

Despite the rumour that had recently been circulating that Harry was in love with his friends Hermione Granger, the dark haired boy had been somewhat lacking in the girlfriend department. Not that there hadn't been ample opportunity; every girl in the school with enough courage, from first year to seventh, had had at some point asked Harry out. All of them had been gently, but firmly, rejected.

It wasn't that he didn't want to have someone, or that he didn't have the time; quite the contrary. He would have been delighted to have someone to relieve even just a bit of his loneliness. However… Harry Potter simply did not fancy girls. All his life his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had warned him away from girls, telling him that the only girls he could trust were those in his family, and old Mrs. Figg down the street. He had a feeling that they mostly just did not want him to breed. 

Of course, now he knew that no one in his family was trust worthy, and though Mrs. Figg had finally been revealed as a Witch, Harry had trouble trusting her. All those years that she had known who he was, and how he was being treated, yet she had done nothing.

Sure, he'd had a crush on Cho Chang, and a Veela could entrance **any** man…but during his years at Hogwarts Harry slowly came to the realization that he rather preferred the company of another boy to that of a girl.

"…hear me, Harry?"

Emerald eyes blinked owlishly behind thick, black frames. "Hmm? Oh, sorry, Ron. Wasn't quite paying attention there." He ducked his head, a bit ashamed that he'd been ignoring his best friend. 

"I said let's go. Didn't you even notice that we're here?" The redhead scowled, "everyone's gone already."

"Oh. Right. We were going to see your brothers first, weren't we?" At Ron's nod, Harry climbed out of the carriage, only slightly upset that Ron had been the only one to wait for him. Seamus, Dean and Neville were already long-gone; they had kicked Hermione out of her usual spot with Ron and Harry, claiming they had 'man things' to discuss, and breaking the 'no more than four to a carriage' rule. Harry vaguely remembered them talking about Quidditch, trashing Slytherins, and girls. 

Ron's older brothers had opened a joke shop in Hogsmeade across the street from Honeydukes after they graduated, just as they had planned for years. When asked by their mother where they had gotten the money, the twins had imply replied that it had come 'from a magical cup.' Fred and George kept the secret that Harry had given them his prize money from the TriWizard Tournament, and in return, what Harry wanted from Weasley Wizard Wheezes, Harry got. 

The twins had sent Ron and Harry an owl a few weeks before, raving about a new trick cloak that shrunk to half it's normal size when wet that they were itching to show the younger boys. They had sent one to Charlie in Romania as a 'gift,' and the second-eldest Weasley boy had gotten a good laugh from it.

A bell that sounded strangely similar to a cat's yowl sounded as the boys pushed the door open, "Hello? Fredngeorge? C'mon out then, or we'll nick the whole lot…"

At their brother's shout, the two Weasleys emerged from the back, hair mussed and identical faces flushed. "Oi oi! Our two favourite customers!" Fred pulled the two boys into a tight embrace, quickly mimicked by George. "We've been waiting for you all day."

Ron looked at him skeptically, "o then you were thinking of us when you were in the back, snogging?"

The twins grinned sheepishly, "Of course! We always think about Harry, don't we, Fred?"

"Who doesn't? He's Briton's Most Lusted After Wizard." Fred laughed, sliding an arm around Harry's shoulder, "How 'bout it, Harry? Ever sleep with twins?"

Ron paled, "I don't want to hear this! It's bad enough that my two brothers are going at it, don't involve my best friend!"

Fred and George laughed at Ron's shock and Harry's embarrassment, "Ok, ok, we get it. C'mon, I wanna show you guys some new stuff that we've been working on." George led his brother away, leaving Harry to Fred.

Before the red head could speak, Harry cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Hey, Fred? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Harry, anything you need. You're like a brother to us, you know. Only better, because we didn't have to grow up withy you."

"Yeah. I…that is… You and George are…together, right? So you don't mind that other…I mean..."

Fred cocked his head to one side, "Harry, are you trying to say that you like blokes?"

Harry's cheeks flamed red, "I…yeah. One in particular, actually. But he…it's hard. If he were, say, a Ravenclaw, maybe, or…hell, even Ron would be easier! But…I don't know what to do…"

Fred smiled and placed a brotherly hand on Harry's head, "Strange as it sounds coming from me, take it slow. Make him feel special, drop little hints that you're interested, stuff like that."

"'Special,' huh? Hmmm…" a slow smile spread across Harry's lips, an idea already forming in his mind.

~*~

One chocolate frog. 

One chocolate frog between the two of them was all Crabbe and Goyle had been able to come up with as a birthday gift. Soon after, the two goons had parted, leaving Draco to drown his misery in non-alcoholic butterbeer. A quick glance at his watch (very few people knew that Draco 'debased' himself enough to wear a Muggle watch that told only the time) told him that he had less than twenty minutes to get back to the carriages before they left. 

He tossed a few gold Galleons on the table, more than enough to pay for his drinks, and stalked out of the bar, daring anyone to get in his way. _Damn. This is worse than my ninth birthday. At least then I had a party, and my parents didn't forget about me. _His birthday many years before had been devastating; no one ever mentioned it, and if they did, it was simply referred to as 'The Incident.'

The streets outside were nearly empty, everyone having gone home for dinner, or Hogwarts students milling slowly towards the carriages that would take them back. Draco recognized a small group of Slytherin fifth years walking by with ice creams, and various other Hogwarts robes, but no one he really knew, and certainly no one he cared to talk to.

"Malfoy? Hey, Malfoy, wait up…"

Draco turned to find Harry Potter running towards him, surprisingly sans-Weasley. "Potter." Certainly not the person he wanted to see at the moment, but he forced his voice to remain calmly neutral.

"Ma-Malfoy…" Harry stopped to catch his breath, "Sorry. I just…I heard that…" he frowned at himself; he was used to having much more control over his vocalizations. "Anyway, I just...I wanted to give you this…" He reached into his pocket and removed a small package wrapped in green tissue paper and tied with a silver ribbon. "I couldn't actually wrap it, but…here." He thrust the package into the blonde's startles hands, blushing furiously. "I thought I might…well, open it."

Draco looked disbelievingly from Harry to the gift, and then back again. "What? Is this some kind of joke? Thought it might be amusing to make fun of me because everyone forgot my birthday?"

"No!" Harry sputtered, trying to force back his blush, "Its just a gift."

Hesitantly Draco pulled away the string and pulled back the tissue, revealing a small silver dragon dangling from a delicate matching chain. The dragon lay curled in a sleeping position and upon closer inspection, it appeared to be breathing gently. Draco's hands trembled.  "…Why?"

Harry kicked at a few loose pebbles on the ground. "It's alive, kind of. When it wakes up, be sure that you're the first thing it sees, so that it imprints you on its brain. That way, if it gets lost or stolen, it'll know who to get back to." He nibbled on his lower lip, afraid to see the blonde's reaction.

Seconds passed in silence, then minutes. Finally a pale hand came to rest tentatively on Harry's arm, "Potter…"

Harry looked up, a small smile on his face, "Happy birthday, Malfoy."

Chapter 1, end.

::giggle:: You loved it, didn't you? You know you did. At  least, I did. ^-^ Read chapter 2 now. It's cuter. 


	2. Touched

Part 2. I was begged for a kiss-scene, so here it is, in all its sappy-sweet glory. ^-^

A miniscule puff of smoke drifted up past his head, pulling a small laugh from his lips. Draco looked down at the tiny silver dragon that lay curled on his pillow, "Pii, as much as I hate to admit it, you're cute."

The little statuette was no more than two inches from nose to the base of its tail, with a small loop in it's back from which a delicate silver chain was strung. It had been a gift for his sixteenth birthday two weeks before, and had come as quite a surprise.

It wasn't actually receiving a gift that was a surprise; it had been the person to give it to him that had come as a shock. His parents had forgotten him. His 'friends' had forgotten him. But Harry Potter, of all people, had given him a gift. 

Potter. They hated each other. They had been rivals since their first day, over five years ago. And yet…the boy had given him a gift. Not only that, but Pii looked to be quite an expensive little trinket.

Naturally Draco had been quite suspicious of the tiny bundle of green tissue paper Potter had presented to him. A trick? Or a joke? Against his better judgements he had opened it, and immediately fell in love with the tiny bit of silver shaped like a dragon. 

Potter had said it was 'alive,' which wasn't far from the truth; it had been enchanted to move as a real dragon would, and to recognize its owner. Fifty Galleons was a modest estimate of the price.

Draco scratched the top of the dragon's head gently, causing it to make a noise between a purr and a squeak. They were alone in the dorm; the only condition in which Draco would verbally speak to Pii. "I don't understand him, Pii. He hates me for more than five years, now he gives me a present. Makes no sense." He shook his head, picking up the dragon and replacing it about his neck, "Come on then, time for lunch."

~*~

He was beginning to regret ever listening to Fred. Any information or assistance from the Weasley twins was not to be completely trusted. He'd given Malfoy a gift; a token of his affection, if it could be called such.  It was impossible to think that such passionate feelings-even those of animosity-would not eventually turn to other more positive (though confusing) feelings. 

A simple crush-surely that's all it amounted to, right?  It wasn't so much the face that he fancied a boy that bothered him. It was the fact that her perhaps fancied Malfoy that disturbed him. And yet he had spent 73 Galleons on a birthday gift for the boy. True, he had more than enough money hidden away in his Gringotts vault, but 73 Galleons was enough to hurt his wallet for the time being.

Harry sighed. Certainly it wasn't the smartest thing he'd ever done. Since his birthday Malfoy had completely ignored Harry. He wouldn't admit it, even to Ron, but he rather missed Malfoy's attentions, even if they were less than friendly. Bad attention was better than no attention, and he wanted that attention back. 

Even being picked on would have been better than being ignored. _He wears it though, doesn't he?  Harry could see the bump of the necklace under Malfoy's robes, and it sent pleasant warmth through his veins. __Even if he hates me, he likes my gift._

"Harry? Oi, Harry! Class is over. Do you plan on sitting here for tomorrow, or are you coming to lunch?" Brown eyes framed by bright red hair scowled down at Harry, "I know the class is boring, but you gotta wake up sometime." 

Harry shook his head, "Sorry, Ron. Wasn't paying attention, I guess. Go ahead without me, I'll be on in a minute." Though it was quite normal to catch at least three or four students sleeping through History of Magic at any given time, Harry had not been one of them today. Rather, his mind had been whirling at a thousand thoughts per minute, almost all of them focusing on a certain Slytherin.

_It's more than a bit of a crush, isn't it? How could this have happened? Harry picked himself up, gathering his things, and shuffled off towards the Great Hall._

Most of the school was already seated, and Harry was quite sure that Ron was on at least his second plate as he slid into the seat between his two best friends. 

"Harry, are you feeling alright? You've been looking a bit out of sorts lately."

He turned to give Hermione a fake smile, "Fine, 'Mione. Just a bit preoccupied. Have you noticed Malfoy lately? He's been ignoring us for quite a while."

"And good riddance to him. That stupid ferret can keep to himself, thanks. Maybe he'll slip on some of the slime in those dungeons and die."

"Ron! Be nice. I'm sure the dungeons aren't nearly as slimy as you say." 

Had he been paying attention Harry would have laughed at Hermione's comment. As it was, he was currently much more interested in staring across the Hall at the Slytherin in question. Malfoy was slowly lifting small bites of food to his mouth, ignoring the rest of his House. Occasionally his left hand would steal up to the neck of his robes to finger a delicate silver chain hidden there. 

_Is that...the dragon? It must be. He wears it every day…doesn't he? Maybe its just some other necklace I've never noticed… The more Harry thought about it, the more upset he became. He lifted a bit of chicken to his lips, but didn't taste a thing. For two weeks Malfoy had completely ignored him. _

He had to do something.

~*~

Draco watched curiously as Harry suddenly pushed away from the Gryffindor table and quickly made his way out of the Great Hall. For the few minutes Harry had been at lunch Draco had been able to feel his piercing green gaze on himself, though he refused to look up. 

_I've been a right prat, haven't I? Not that I haven't been for the last five and a half years… he abandoned any further attempts at eating for his thoughts, ignoring Pansy when she tried to force him to eat something from the other side of the table.  __Stupid girl. Doesn't she know there are more important things than food? Draco mumbled a quick 'Excuse me' before removing himself from the table and stalking through the same door Harry had just exited._

_I almost feel bad…almost. I never told him to give me a gift, the stupid thing. Once again Draco's hand stole up to the silver chain, this time pulling the tiny dragon from its hiding place in his robes. "What do you think, Pii? Should we talk to him?"_

The little dragon squeaked at him, swishing its tail in a manner that Draco had come to learn that meant Pii was pleased. 

"Well then, where do you think he might be?" He held Pii in the palm of his hand, looking at it intensely as if it were speaking to him. "The Quidditch pitch, you think? Sounds good." Over the years Draco has found the Gryffindor flying expertly over the pitch several times when he had just gone out to do the same thing. 

Allowing Pii to dangle freely from his neck Draco set out towards the Quidditch pitch. "I have no idea why I'm doing this, Pii. What's the point in it? He pushed past the enormous double doors that lead outside the castle, blinking at the sudden invasion of light on his senses.

"What am I supposed to say? 'Oh, Potter, how lovely to see you again. Terribly sorry I've been ignoring you for the last few weeks, but I'm sure you've liked it better that way anyway, haven't you?'" He passed by the lake, a bit amused at the giant squid waving a tentacle in greeting at him from near the shore. "I'm sure that would go over well. 'By the way, thanks for the gift. I quite like it'." Draco scoffed, kicking a bit of dirt in the path.

"Really? You like it?"

Draco spun around, instantly covering the tiny dragon with his hand. "Potter? What are you doing out here?"

Harry shrugged eloquently, "I'm allowed to be out here too, Malfoy." He clasped his hands behind his back, "Did…do you really like it?"

Draco's guard went up though he let go of the tiny dragon. "I…why did you do it, Potter?"

Harry smiled faintly; Draco had asked the exact same question two weeks ago, and had not gotten a straight answer. "Why shouldn't I have? It was your birthday, wasn't it?" He found his way to a near-by tree and leaned casually against it.

Draco frowned, "Well, yes, but…I thought you hated me? That would be like Snape giving you a gift." His nerves were on edge, but he kept his demeanor calm, collected. "So why in Merlin's name did you buy me such an expensive gift? Or anything, for that matter?"

"…I don't hate you."

"What do you mean you don't hate me? Of course you hate me. You've always hated me, remember?" 

"I've never hated you, Malfoy. I hate the way you've treated my friends and myself. I hate the way you've made me miserable since the day we met because I'm 'The Boy Who Lived' and you're on the other side. But I've never hated you."

Draco lifted a hand once again to lovingly stroke the top of Pii's head. "I do like it." A word of thanks hung on his lips, though they were quite hesitant to pass. "So then, if you don't hate me…"

A sad smile played across Harry's lips, "You don't know, do you?" Hesitantly he moved forward to place a trembling hand on Draco's upper arm. "I know you hate me; I've come to accept that. But I though maybe even you deserve some happiness on your birthday. My own was quite depressing, they always are. So I hoped I could make yours a little better than that."

The blonde looked down at the hand resting on his arm. He could feel his heart climb up into his throat, and he allowed his features to soften just a bit. "You have friends, don't you? Granger and Weasley, and all the other Gryffindors…Aren't they supposed to care?"

"Aren't your parents supposed to care?"

Draco was a bit taken aback by Harry's almost flippant reply. Yes. Parents were supposed to care…"Go to hell, Potter." 

Harry ignored him, reaching up to gently clasp the dragon hanging from the silver chain. "What's it's name?"

The Slytherin heavily considered whether or not to tell Harry. Really, it was none of his business…"Pii."

"P? It's name is a letter?" Harry grinned at the little dragon, allowing his mind to make all sorts of meanings from just a tiny bit of information.

"Not P. Pii. P-i-i." He spelled it out, scowling as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We vacationed in Japan last summer. Dreadfully boring; there are almost none of our kind there…I was stuck watching that Muggle box all day, in a language that I didn't know." 

"'Muggle box'? You mean a telly?" 

Draco rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Either way, I picked up a bit of the language from context…" he shrugged. He was better than lying than most, and he knew it. The story hadn't been entirely a lie…he actually had been dragged to Japan the previous summer, and had spent most of his days there glued to the Muggle box, watching the shows. It was a bit like looking at a wizarding picture; most of the things he watched had obviously been drawn or painted by someone, then made to move and talk and interact. There had been shows with real people in them; real Muggles doing…Muggle things…but he had found the drawn ones to usually be a bit more interesting.

Harry nodded absently, listening more to the actual sound of Draco's voice rather than what was being said. Suddenly he looked up, startling emerald eyes shining, "You know, I believe this is the first civil conversation we've ever had."

 "Don't be ridiculous, Potter. We had a perfectly fine conversation when we first met, back in Daigon Alley the first time." A slow heat crept into Draco's cheeks at the thought of that day so many years ago when he'd met a lovely little boy his age, the first one he thought he might actually be able to be real friends with. 

"We did no such thing, You were rather rude, and you insulted Hagrid. Hardly a good start."

A pained, wistful look swam slowly across gray eyes, "We could have been friends…"

"Could we?" Harry released his gently hold on Pii, placing both hands on Draco's shoulders. Thick black lashes came down to conceal gem-like eyes as his voice lowered to a choked whisper, "…Can we?"

"I suppose...it's never too late to try…" Guided by instinct rather then conscious or logic, Draco slid an arm around the Gryffindor's waist, pulling his closer. _He fits… Slowly he lowered his lips to meet Harry's, deathly afraid, yet blissfully calm. _

This had been quite unplanned. All he'd wanted to do was…what? Talk to Harry? Yes, but more than that, perhaps…? Despite the early February chill Draco felt himself melt as Harry immediately met his lips with a gentle passion. He gathered the slightly smaller boy in his arms, head spinning through hundreds of thoughts at once. 

When they finally found a lack of proper oxygen to be rather hindering the two boys separated, leaning heir foreheads against the other. Heavy breath passed between them, appearing in white puffs of mixed warm air. Draco pulled back a bit, then began to chuckle softly.

"What? What did I do?"

"Your hair…It's whiter than mine."

Harry looked around, bewildered. A heavy snow was falling around them, coating everything in a blanket of shining white. He too began to laugh, "We didn't even notice…"

"Hey, Potter?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you." He leaned in to claim another kiss, "For everything."

Owari.

Yeah, the ending sucked hard-core. Sorry about that. ^^:

-=Keiran=-


End file.
